Sonic the Traveler
by Ccrules27
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog is up to his knees in conflict as a mysterious cult reappears after disappearing for hundreds of years. Things about Sonic and his friends are revealed that could change their relationship forever.
1. The Path Opens

Sonic the Traveler:

The Path Opens

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" echoed from the metallic speakers. "All robots, engage. This is a high level security breach."

Within moments, hundreds of robots appeared at a scene. It seemed that there were no enemies to speak and the robots, which lack the intelligence to comprehend the situation, stood idly.

"Excellent," smiled a mischievous looking shadow, "They have all been drawn away from the key. It will be easy for him now. I can return to base."

The creature sat beside a metallic door got up and hit a large red button next to it. Instantly more words echoed from the speakers, "Lockdown initiated! Lockdown Initiated!"

Every metal door in the compound slammed down simultaneously. The creature smiled, "Now that they're all locked in… I'll make my leave!" The shadow reached into thin air and pulled out a shinning jewel. "With this… the Ultimate power!" it exclaimed loudly but femininely.

"I've heard that one before," came a reply out of nowhere.

The shadow checked its surroundings. There was nothing but the shadow knew that it was something, something big.

"Sonic the Hedgehog! Reveal yourself!"

"If you say so," replied a blue hedgehog that had come out of nowhere to appear in front of the shadow.

"We meet again," said Sonic, who wore his novelty red shoes as well as a large grin. "You don't look like you changed much since the last battle Ila."

"I am much more powerful than last time. You caught me off guard. Now that I have the Chaos Emerald… I'll be much harder to defeat."

Sonic looked at her. She was an echidna who was light purple with strange eyes of diamonds. When Sonic had seen her last, the echidna was quite a surprise. Sonic had thought that Knuckles, a good friend of Sonic's was the last of his kind. Now, she was just another enemy that needed to be taken down. He had to come a long way to interfere with her plans. They had first battled somewhere outside Emerald Town and Sonic had tracked her all the way from Central City (_or was it Metropolis_, Sonic thought) all the way to Station Square. It didn't matter. This is right were Sonic wanted her.

Ila looked at Sonic. She was quite upset to see that he was standing there. She had almost lost the battle in Emerald Town and had managed to escape with some luck. Now, though she was sure that she could defeat Sonic. She had the Chaos Emerald! _There isn't much time,_ thought Ila, _but if I keep him entertained for long enough_

"So are you ready?" asked Sonic, "I don't enjoy waiting around very long."

"Fine," smiled Ila. Ila held up the emerald for a second and dropped the green stone down on the ground.

"Are you just leaving it there for me to take it?" yelled Sonic arrogantly, "I guess it's a present, I'll just need to take." Sonic started up and ran straight for the emerald. The arena was a metallic platform, high above where thousands of robots were lying asleep. There was one exit here, but it was locked completely shut. The only way out was using the chaos emerald.

"This is the end for you, Sonic the hedgehog. I'm only sorry that you didn't get to see how the world comes to be!" Ila smirked. Sonic continued to ignore her and focused on the emerald. He grabbed it and then looked up at Ila.

"You aren't going to stop me?" he asked quite confused.

Ila laughed, "Don't you see? Well, I'll show you." Ila rose up from the floor and stood up in the air.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Sonic as he lunged at her, emerald in hand.

"Chaos Thundre!" she exclaimed as the lights in the compound began to flash. Sonic felt heat surging through his hands. Energy was exploding from the Chaos Emerald. Energy that reminded Sonic of lightning had burst from the emerald and surrounded him. Sonic no longer was in the air; he was shot down to the ground.

"Argh!" groaned Sonic in pain. Ila laughed again.

"Don't you see… the Chaos Emerald has even more power than you dreamed imaginable? You pathetic hedgehog, you can't even comprehend the full power of the seven servers and the Master. Do you know why? It's because you aren't an echidna. All of the secrets of the Chaos Emeralds have been given to us! We know the truth that all other life forms yearn to understand. We are the ultimate creatures of Earth!"

"Heh… so where have you guys been," asked Sonic quietly.

Ila laughed again, "Such interesting questions as you face your death. We have been in waiting to take back what is rightfully ours. Now, we will have what our leaders once sought for us. You will not see that day, Sonic the Hedgehog, for today you die!" Ila somehow managed to take the Chaos Emerald from Sonic. It vanished from the floor next to him, into her hands. "Chaos Be, ahh!" she yelled, falling to the ground far from Sonic.

Ila was quite surprised to be on the ground. _Not even Sonic could do that… Master. What is the meaning of this?_

"_Do not kill him… we need him. Now is not the time. Take the Chaos Emerald and return to base. Do not kill him._

Ila stood up and looked scornfully at Sonic. He had passed out on the floor and could have been killed easily. _I will be the one to kill you Sonic. I won't even give Master the delight._

Ila grabbed the emerald and whispered, "Chaos Control" and vanished.


	2. City Escape

Sonic the Traveler

Chapter 2

City Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the "official" Sonic characters. (Such as Sonic, Tails, etc).

"Get up, Hedgehog!" shouted a booming and powerful voice. Sonic jumped up off the floor and looked around at the hundreds of robots buzzing around the gigantic metallic building. Towering over Sonic was a familiar face, the commander of the Guardian Unit of Nations.

"It wasn't me, I swear! If I had the Chaos emerald..." began Sonic.

"No need to explain," said the Commander lowly, "We saw it escape."

"Ila?" asked Sonic.

"Yes, it was last seen attempting to escape from Station Square. Our units are too slow… and it was seemed to be able to teleport even if we did get close. You think you can stop it?"

"No doubt," Sonic sighed. The chase was on again. Sonic nodded at the Commander and sped through a now open metallic door. The robots behind him were still buzzing idly. _At least they won't attack me anymore, _thought Sonic.

He sped out of the building and on to the street. All along the road there were torn power lines. Sonic made sure to avoid them, jumping over each line quickly and easily. The city streets were oddly empty but Sonic guessed that it was just some sort of imposed curfew. As he sped over a bridge Sonic noticed a bunch of police cars speeding under. _I guess I'll follow those guys, _he thought as he leapt off the high bridge.

As he moved through the air, he felt a great sense of exhilaration. _This feeling… is what adventure is all about. _Sonic landed on both feet and continued on. There were six police cars in front of Sonic, but in no time they were behind him. A few second later, Sonic saw more than one hundred police cars surrounding a small patch of land.

"We've got you surrounded," shouted a G.U.N. officer, "Put your hands up."

Ila was at the center of that small patch of land. There wasn't much there, but a small grass patch. Ila revealed the Chaos Emerald and shouted to the lowly officers, "You think that your guns can stop this?" She whispered a strange word to herself and the ground began to shake violently. Out of it, came a gigantic plant. The plant was quite unusual as it was completely purple with red tentacles. Ila jumped atop the plant and stood nestled at the top branches of the twisted plant.

Sonic jumped in front of the first row of police cars and yelled to Ila, "Pick on someone your own size. Leave them out of this!"

Ila smiled down at Sonic and laughed, "When I talked about the power of echidnas before… I didn't just mean to destroy you and your entire race. I want every living creature that does not have ties to the gems of the gods, to be eradicated."

"Why? What have they ever done to you!"

Ila frowned and then screamed, "Chaos Oak! Destroy the blue hedgehog!" Chaos Oak responded with a high-pitched shriek that even stunned Sonic. It lunged its arms at the hedgehog that was almost crushed by the force of the strange entity. Chaos Oak continued to thrash around at Sonic for a couple of minutes. Strangely, as the minutes grew longer, Chaos Oak gained more and more arms. Luckily for Sonic, even with extra arms, none of the trashing had come as close as the first attempt.

Ila grew impatient and screamed, "Chaos Oak! Attack the cars!" Immediately, the creature changed its target from Sonic to the hundreds of police cars on the scene.

"Retreat! Retreat!" shouted a high-ranking GUN official. The officers attempted to get away in their cars but stood little chance, as the Chaos Oak seemed to be able to spawn more arms. Sonic grew worried about the humans but saw this as the chance to get back the Chaos Emerald. He quickly scaled the terrible plant, jumping from arm to arm.

Sonic jumped up from the last arm on to the top where Ila stood. She was busy enjoying the destruction that Chaos Oak was causing. Sonic crept up to her and gave a swift kick in the back to the Echidna.

"Ugh," Ila said falling forward, off Chaos Oak. The emerald also fell out of her hands and the two sailed towards the ground. Sonic jumped down after the emerald, falling quickly and attempting to navigate past the moving arms of Chaos Oak.

"Uff," groaned Sonic as he hit one branch. He groaned again as he hit the next branch, and another and another. He finally was able to catch on to a branch and pulled himself up. A bright light welcomed him on top of the tentacle, the green Chaos Emerald. He grabbed it and smiled.

He jumped off the arm and sailed downward. This time there were not many tentacles in the way. Sonic was very close to the ground after the initial fall. There were very few officers remaining on the ground. Most had retreated, some had not gotten the chance and a few were wounded. Sonic looked up at Chaos Oak. "Chaos Spear!"

The green Chaos Emerald in his hand shot out small bolts of energy at the plant. "Now it's all over… for," started Sonic who stopped in the middle of one of his favorite victory phrases. _It's not destroyed? I thought that by learning one of Shadow's most powerful attacks, I could defeat almost anything. This must be something else!" _

"Don't you see Hedgehog?" laughed Ila. "This is the fate of your world. You could not even stand up to one of the weakest of the servants. However, I'm in a good mood. Hand over the Chaos Emerald and I'll get rid of the creature. If you don't, I'll send Chaos Oak into Station Square and have Oak destroy, every last person."

"Why should I trust you?" Sonic frowned.

"You are not in a position to negotiate with me. The lives of millions are at stake."

Sonic groaned and looked at Station Square, not so far off in the distance. "I have the Chaos Emerald. I could just transport…"

Ila laughed again, "That low level move. I learnt that at the age of three. Do you understand the situation here? Give me the emerald!"

Sonic groaned again and tossed the emerald to Ila. "I will keep my part of the bargain. Chaos Oak… you have fulfilled your purpose. Do not attack Station Square. Instead, head towards Central City!" Ila cackled.

"How could you?" gasped Sonic, quite surprised, "Central City is probably the largest populated city in the entire country."

Ila smirked again, "I only agreed to spare Station Square. Thanks for the emerald! This makes six."

"Six?" Sonic asked loudly.

"We have already snatched six Chaos Emeralds. All that remains is the final emerald. It won't be long. Perhaps you should enjoy the last days of your life… in peace," she gave Sonic one final smirk and hugged the emerald, "Chaos Control."

Ila disappeared in a flash and Sonic remained. He was extremely tired and almost fell down as he saw Chaos Oak sluggishly move away from Station Square towards Central City.

_It will take it a couple of hours,_ thought Sonic, _and there is still one Chaos Emerald left. If things haven't changed, then Tails should still have the last one. I gotta make this quick. _Sonic stood up and looked up into the sky. It was now dusk and night was approaching. _Could tonight really be the last night of my life like Ila suggested_, he thought grimly, _or is there some weakness to these creatures that I'm missing. _


	3. Sonic & Knuckles

Sonic the Traveler

Chapter 3: Sonic and Knucles

It was early evening at the workshop of Miles "Tails" Prower. Hard at work with his latest invention, Tails did not even know that time was slipping away as the sun descended beyond the horizon. Tails had kept the same workshop since the time that Sonic and friends had defeated the threat of Chaos. Inside Tails was gleaming over his latest creation.

_It's almost complete, _thought Tails proudly, _this is definitely the hardest device I've ever created but it's sure to change the world. I bet even Dr. Eggman couldn't have made something like this! Now… all I need is to tell Sonic. _Tails picked up a shiny diamond from a nearby table and glanced at it. _With this, _he gleamed; _everything that was ever unclear will become knowledge to all! _

At that precise moment there was a large knock at the door of Tails' shop. "Sonic!" shouted Tails hoping that it was his best friend who had come to visit. He opened the door wide and noticed that it was not a blue figure but a red one that stood at the door. "Oh, its you… Knuckles," smiled Tails sadly.

"What type of reaction was that?" yelled Knuckles loudly, "Were you expecting Sonic again? Can't you get it through your head? He's not coming back. It's been a year and he hasn't visited you, once! Rumor has it that he's coming after the Chaos Emeralds for his own personal gain!"

Tails laughed, "What did Dr. Eggman tell you this time?" Knuckles did not respond and was oddly silent. He looked down and noticed the silver Chaos Emerald in Tails' hand. Without any warning, he picked up Tails and threw him twenty feet in the air. "Knuckals!"" screamed Tails emphasizing on the last syllables of Knuckles' name as he flew through the air. Tails no longer had the silver Chaos Emerald in his possession.

Back on the ground Knuckles looked at the emerald as Tails descended to the ground slowly. "With this," Knuckles smirked, "the ultimate power, I will finally be able to discover my past!" Tails landed and looked at Knuckles with disbelief.

"Knucklehead," said an enthusiastic voice, "you're starting to sound like Shadow."

"Sonic!" said Knuckles and Tails in unison though their tones of voice were different.

"Hey Tails," smiled Sonic, "sorry I haven't seen you in such a long time. I've been cleaning up a mess. As for you Knuckles, long time no see. I'd expect that you'd do something like this by now."

"What?" asked Knuckles startled, "Am I that predictable? How did you find out about everything?"

"Well, seeing as you haven't done anything stupid in a while… you were due!" yelled Sonic arrogantly.

"Still arrogant and selfish as usual!" snorted Knuckles, "I don't have time for you and your little games. I have to meet someone." Knuckles turned to leave and jumped to glide out towards the sea, away from the train station and Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins.

Sonic was not about to let Knuckles go. He jumped in the air and knocked Knuckles down to the ground. "Maybe you didn't hear me? You aren't about to go hand over the final Chaos Emerald."

Knuckles stood up and looked angrily at Sonic. With a quick glance he charged at Sonic with hands raised in attack. Sonic easily dodged by moving out of the way at the speed of sound. Knuckles attempted to attack again but even he knew that at this state he couldn't knock Sonic down.

_This is pointless, _thought Knuckles, _if I miss the deadline than there is no going back. I'll be stuck guarding the Master Emerald forever._

"We will have to continue another time," said Knuckles grimly, obviously enjoying the fight. "Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog. Chaos Control!" In a flash of light Knuckles was gone with the final Chaos Emerald. Tails sat on the ground confused and Sonic punched the ground with a short burst of rage.

"Did Knuckles just leave in the middle of a fight?" asked Sonic in disbelief.

"Did Knuckles just use Chaos Control?" asked Tails amazed.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about that," sighed Sonic, "Knuckles has got a power boast from some new friends and they are planning to takeover the world or something like that."

"Wow. Anything else you think I should know?" Asked Tails grimly yet with a taste of sarcasm.

"Yeah. They have the ability to control these gigantic things called Chaos Elementals. Plus they are probably going to do something really bad now that they have all seven Chaos Emeralds."

"So how do you suggest we stop them?"

"I'm not the one with the IQ of 300 here. I think a good start would be to head to Central City. I'm going to contact some friends on the way and if you meet anyone on your way there, I suggest you do the same." Tails nodded in agreement and Sonic sighed, "I guess we're starting another adventure… I can't say that I'm upset, but this is really going to interfere with my vacation plans in Emerald Coast."

Tails smiled and took to the skies and Sonic raced off. Both heroes were heading towards Central City and into a conflict bigger than they could have imagined being intangled in.


End file.
